Michael Diamond: Olympic shooting champ charged with harassing brother, hit with AVO
A “bitter” relationship with his brother John came to a head when Olympic shooting champion Michael Diamond was charged with harassment and slapped with an apprehended violence order.
Newcastle
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Olympic shooting champion Michael Diamond has found himself back in court again, slapped with an apprehended violence order (AVO) and pleading guilty to harassing his brother John, telling him “I’m going to sort you out”.
The relationship between the siblings had become “bitter” with court documents stating the pair have had a long ongoing dispute for the past decade.
The Olympian — who in December auctioned off his remaining gold medal for $50,000 to pay medical bills — was charged with using a carriage service to harass his brother on July 3, calling him more than 30 times from a private number.
When his brother John finally picked up, he recognised the voice as his brother Michael and said, “why are you calling and harassing me”?
“Ha ha ha because I want to harass you and there’s nothing you can do about it”, he replied according to police facts.
John also told police his brother said: “I’m going to get you. I’m going to sort you out”.
But according to police facts he was recording the conversation, which he took to police before his brother was arrested and an apprehended violence order (AVO) taken out against him.
Mr Diamond, of Bolton Point, appeared at Toronto Local Court on Tuesday to face the charge, where his solicitor mentioned there was a dispute between the siblings over final payment of a settlement relating to a family estate.
Magistrate Andrew Eckhold told the court it was clear there was “bad blood” between the brothers but didn’t excuse his behaviour.
“You can’t engage in this conduct,” Magistrate Eckhold said.
“Such a threat can scare people.”
Mr Diamond was convicted and sentenced to a conditional release order for two years.
No stranger to police attention, Mr Diamond was found guilty of high-range drink driving over a 2016 incident in Port Stephens in which police claim they found a shotgun in an unlocked case in the back of his car.
As a result, he was ruled ineligible for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Those firearms charges were later quashed.
And in December last year, Mr Diamond was in the spotlight for again selling off another of his Olympic gold medals to help support his family as he battled serious health issues.
Heart and gall bladder problems forced the dual gold medallist to make the hard decision to auction off his 1996 Atlanta Olympic gold medal for $50,000.